“Mad Men” Begins Its Final Season, “Hannibal” Is Best in Show and People Are Naming Their Daughters Khaleesi

News

EW reports that Starz has ordered The Chair, a reality series from the producer of Project Greenlight. The competition will follow two first-time directors as they direct their version of the same movie script. A team of mentors — including Zachary Quinto — will oversee the process.

Twilight alum Booboo Stewart has joined the cast of The Descendants, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That’s the Disney Channel movie about the children of villains from classic animated Disney movies. Stewart will play the son of Jafar.

CNN’s replacement for Piers Morgan will be documentary series fronted by Lisa Ling, Mike Rowe and John Walsh.

TNT has ordered The Librarians, a spin-off of the Noah Wyle-starring Librarian movies. The series will star Rebecca Romijn, Christian Kane and John Laroquette, with Wyle making occasional appearances.

Here’s some consolation if Fox cancels Enlisted, Parker Youngjoined the cast of Cuz-Bros, a comedy about a slick ladies man who has his life disrupted when his cousin needs a couch to crash on. Oh, the part that might work as a consolation to Enlisted fans? Geoff Stults has already been cast in the lead role, while Young will play the disruptive cousin, so their TV relationship should be familiar.

Last year, 146 baby girls were named Khaleesi, presumably by Game of Thrones-living parents who figured it would be too hard to teach their daughter how to spell Daenerys.

HLN announced more shows for their social media take on the news. It includes 2 Spouses, 3 Houses where a couple’s “likes, hearts and pins” are used to determine their dream house (so they’d suggest I move into a recreation of the Lilo & Stitch house I guess?) and a game show testing contestants’ awareness of social media headlines. Sounds like it could use some accompaniment from the RiffTrax guys.

Friday’s Listings

The View (ABC) Check local listingsMegan Mullally and Nick Offerman will be discussing the Off-Broadway play they’re doing together.

The Talk (CBS) Check local listingsJackie Collins is on today’s show.

The Neighbors (ABC) 8:30 PM ET
ABC’s absurd comedy may be ending its second season with an even more insecure spot on the bubble but at least it’s going out with an appearance by George Takei.

Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) 9:00 PM ET
It’s time for a good old fashioned mastercriminal deathtrap as a bad tip leads the team to a building set up with explosives.

Grimm (NBC) 9:00 PM ET
Portland’s most awkward alliance of wesen and grimms gets put to the test thanks to an agent (C. Thomas Howell) that Prince Viktor has waiting stateside to act.

Continuum (Syfy) 10:00 PM ET
After that amazing premiere, Kiera has a lot to deal with as she now lives in a timeline with two Alecs. She doesn’t have to figure out how to deal with another version of herself out there but that’s because someone murdered that other Kiera.

Hannibal (NBC) 10:00 PM ET
The reports of a certain FBI employee’s death have turned out to be exaggerated. Now, it’s time for her to team up with Will to find the identity of her would-be murderer.

Saturday’s Listings

Orphan Black: The Cloneversation (BBC America) 8:00 PM ET
In order to warm up audiences for the return of its Peabody-winning drama, BBC America has this special looking back at the amazing first season, including reactions from the likes of Patton Oswalt and Wil Wheaton. Can someone pick me up in a TARDIS and drop me off on next Saturday, already?

Bermuda Tentacles (Syfy) 9:00 PM ETLinda Hamilton and Trevor Donovan star in Syfy’s latest creature feature about a Navy team that unwillingly awakens an undersea monster. A monster with tentacles, I presume.

Celebrity Ghost Stories (LMN) 9:00 PM ETJai Rodriguez tells the tale of the time he realized he wasn’t the only occupant of a motel room while Downton Julie Brown recalls her encounter with a broken-hearted ghost.

Ripper Street (BBC America) 9:00 PM ET
For the second season finale, dead bodies continue to appear in Whitechapel, probably due to that stolen diamond.

Saturday Night Live (NBC) 11:30 PM ETSeth Rogen makes his third appearance as host this week. I’m hoping for a slide presentation of all the guys (other than Zac Efron) who look like they were designed in a lab by a gay guy.

Sunday’s Listings

American Dad (Fox) 7:30 PM ETStan gets a new mole at work thanks to pushing Haley to start working at Roger’s bar — where Bullock turns out to be a patron.

The Amazing Race (CBS) 8:00 PM ET
The Race heads to Italy where the remaining competitors face a gladiator and race chariots. Unfortunately, from the looks of the preview, the guys aren’t dressed in gladiator short-skirts (sorry, I tried to find a proper name) which seems like a major missed opportunity.

The Simpsons (Fox) 8:00 PM ETThe Simpsons gets proactive with its pop culture parodies with an episode set in a dysfunctional future called “Days of Future Future”. At least, I’m hoping for a parody of the upcoming X-Men movie.

American Dream Builders (NBC) 8:00 PM ET
The teams get broken up for a challenge where the designers have to work in pairs to design modular homes, hoping to win a spotlight in Better Homes & Garden.

Once Upon a Time (ABC) 8:00 PM ET
Little mermaid Ariel is back now that her Prince Eric is missing. However, it’s a double mystery as it turns out Eric was missing a year ago in Fairytale Land, too.

The Good Wife (CBS) 9:00 PM ET
Could Will’s death undo the schism that separated the lawyers of Florrick/Agos from Lochart/Gardner? Alicia and Diane consider merging their firms in light of the tragedy. Maybe Alicia could sit down for lunch with David Lee and she’ll remember why she agreed to split away in the first place. She’ll just have to manage not to slip and fall on David’s slime trail.

Game of Thrones (HBO) 9:00 PM ET
Newbie Game of Thrones fans may still be recovering from the Red Wedding, but that’ won’t stall the arrival of another royal wedding. This time it’s the union of Joffrey and Margaery. Fans of the books swear they’re not secretly recording us to capture our reaction to this wedding. They insist that when they call this event the “Purple Wedding” they’re referencing a wild party where plenty of wine is consumed. Still, once traumatized, twice shy.

Cosmos (Fox) 9:00 PM ETCosmos may have started by letting viewers know how small humans are, the opposite is on tap for this week’s installment, which looks at life in microscopic scale, invisible to the eye.

America’s Best Cook (Food Network) 9:00 PM ETTed Allen hosts this new cooking competition series where 16 chefs compete under the mentorship of Cat Cora, Tyler Florence, Michael Symon or Alex Guarnaschelli. As much as I’m tempted to snark on the enduring legacy of The Voice, for the most part mentorship competition shows have turned out to be pretty great.

The 2014 MTV Movie Awards (CBS) 9:00 PM ET
This year Conan O’Brien hosts the award show that awards all the interesting things about movies mixed with the pop culture parodies you’d better not miss if you want to maintain your dignity at the office coffee pot on Monday.

Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) 9:00 PM ET
It’s finally time for Jane and Grayson to have their first date since having a big, honest talk about Jane’s identity. Too bad, it’ll have to happen in jail as Grayson faces contempt of court charges.

Nurse Jackie (Showtime) 9:00 PM ET
Do you miss watching characters who keep making terrible decisions now that Shameless has finished its season? Don’t worry, the new season of Nurse Jackie has Jackie using again and covering her tracks with Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) 9:00 PM ET
Chef Anthony Bourdain had a great documentary series with the Travel Channel’s No Reservations, but when Bourdain moved to CNN, Bourdain’s travels found a new, gritty edge that was more newsworthy than CNN’s obsessive coverage of the “poop cruise” or a debate about black holes that make passenger airplanes disappear. The third season begins with a trip to Punjab, India.

Mad Men (AMC) 10:00 PM ET
It’s the beginning of the end for Mad Men and the 1960s as AMC’s original period drama begins its final season. Don’t worry, the episode descriptions are still as vague as ever. Apparently, the season opener sees Joan meet a client for drinks.

Revenge (ABC) 10:00 PM ET
It’s been a while since Emily has managed a great takedown, but this one might be a trap Victoria set for her rival. Oh, Victoria, don’t play our love of watching Emily’s wrath against our desire to see Emily survive long enough to deliver the Graysons’ just deserts.